Meum Tempus Moriendi
by Malakia
Summary: The year is 1824. While England is becoming a world power, a series of murders of young girls has London in a panic. Former Army Doctor, Lord John Watson has just returned home after being injured in war. He doesn't think much of these murders until he becomes intimately involved and ends up meeting Phantasma, a man wrapped in riddles and mystery. What will happen?
1. Prologue

**"_Brothers, the time is now. Bring forth your words so we may bring those lost back home. For we are the few Chosen to write these psalms, to bring forth this glorious revolution to the masses and end this tyranny! Cast aside your cloaks of silence, it is now Brothers, now! And it will begin..."_**

The dying sun cast its red glow onto the city of London**, **causing a multitude of shadows to fall off the buildings. The work day had just ended and, even though the weather was pleasant in the summer of the year of our Lord 1824, many were in their homes enjoying the leisure time that was offered. There were a handful of men straggling about in the streets and pubs, with the occasional laughter of children or barking of dogs filling the air. It was uncommon to see women but not unheard of if they were going back home.

"Bria! Hurry up!" called a black haired woman who stood on the steps of St. Nicholas' Church. "I would like to get home before it gets dark!"

'I'm sorry, Anna!" a brown haired woman said after waving good-bye to an elderly woman in a nun's habit who stood at entrance. "I wanted to ask Mother Evans something."

"Are you still considering joining the nunnery?" Anna asked in an amused tone as the two of them began to walk.

"It's an option!" Bria countered. "I don't want to be just a housewife! There is so much out there in the world! I want to help people."

"I'm sure your father will be pleased. Keeping his innocent daughter safe from lecherous men and demons!"

"Oh, stop!" Bria laughed, pushing the other young woman lightly.

"Speaking of which," Anna said, becoming serious, "have you heard? Another girl has gone missing."

"Really?"Bria said quietly. "That's the fifth girl taken in the past month."

"Mmmhhmmm," Anna agreed, nodding her head. "The police are saying that they just ran away but that isn't possible, I think. They just disappeared."

"But what if they did run away?"

"Don't be silly," Anna huffed. "The police just want to be lazy and don't care about those without money."

Both young women had by then reached a fork in the street, and were about to head right when Anna stopped as she noticed a young man closing market stall. Bria had continued to walk but stopped when she noticed that Anna had not followed. She backtracked, looked over to where the other woman was staring and smirked. "Ah, Fredrick," she said teasingly, looking at Anna slyly. "Maybe I should call him over?"

"Don't you dare!" the other hissed, glaring at her.

"Then go talk to him!" Bria laughed. "It's not that hard."

Anna mumbled something, looking back at Fredrick longingly.

Bria's gaze softened before she captured her friend's hand to gain her attention. "Why don't you go and talk to him now? I can walk home from here."

Anna looked apprehensive, glancing between her and the young man. "Are you sure? We shouldn't really separate."

"Ha! It's not that bad. I just live right down the street, remember? Nothing will happen. Now go!" She pushed her friend forward, making a shooing motion with her hands when Anna hesitated.

Bria stood there for a moment, watching her friend walk forward slowly. A feeling of pride filled her chest as she witnessed Anna gather up her courage to actually go up and speak to her crush; though her friend was usually outgoing, trying to get her to speak to a man she liked was like pulling teeth. Once she was sure her friend was in good hands, she turned and headed down the opposite road.

By now there was only a sliver of sunlight left, leaving the city covered in darkness. The night was clear, the stars twinkling and the moon a pale crescent that hung in the sky. Noting how dark it was getting, Bria picked up her pace, mindful of the missing girls and that her father was expecting her home soon.

Ever since her mother died last summer it was just her and her father. He had become stricter and even though she sometimes resented him for it, she suspected he acted in such a way because he feared to lose her too. Once she had figured that out, she had done her best to please him by trying to do her best and come home at a decent hour.

As she started down the cobbled road, only four blocks away from her house, she gradually slowed down when she noticed a dark figure approaching her. She was a little suspicious about the figure wearing a dark cloak with the hood up and was ready to bolt at any moment it came closer and she saw the person's face. "Good evening, !" she said politely with a huge smile on her lips.

"Good even to you as well," the man replied with a broad smile as the two of them stopped in front of each other. "You're out late, my dear."

"Yes, I got caught up helping out at the church," she said in a sheepish tone.

"I see," he replied quietly, a look of amusement on his face. "You should be careful though, you know, with all those girls missing."

"I know. But I'm not far from home now! I should get going before my father begins to worry."

"Here, let me walk with you," the older man offered, holding out his arm. "I would hate to see something happen to you."

"It's fine!" Bria said earnestly. "I don't want you to go out of your way. And besides, I'll be careful!"

Just then there was a loud crash from behind her, causing Bria to shriek and spin around. In the light casted by now light gas lamps, she could see that an old oil drum full of garbage had been knocked over in a nearby alley. Out of the darkened area a medium sized dog emerged and began sniffing amongst the trash for food.

"Oh goodness," Bria muttered, taking a deep breath and placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart. "Stupid mutt; scared me half to death!"

"I see you have everything well in hand," chuckled, causing Bria to turn and face him with a light blush on her cheeks.

"I promise, I do...," she muttered, embarrassed.

"Here," the older man said again, holding out his arm. "I really don't mind taking you home and I know a shortcut to get to your house faster." He winked at her, causing the young woman to laugh warmly.

"If you insist," she teased, resting her right hand on the crook of his elbow. "I just don't want to bother you."

"Nonsense," he replied as the two of them started walking. "It is no trouble."

The two of them fell into easy conversation after that. Bria was slightly relieved to have met on the road; though she would never admit it out loud, she felt better protected with a family friend. was a tall, strong man in his late 40s. Under his hood he had salt and pepper hair and a beard that he kept trimmed close to his face. He had lived in London all his life and had grown up to get a doctorate at one of those fancy colleges. He had done so much for the community where she lived, trying to teach children their alphabet when they couldn't afford schooling or sometimes being a second doctor when the regular one was too busy. In fact, after her mother died he was there to help her father get back on his feet.

It wasn't long before stopped and pulled her towards a narrow alleyway with two abandoned building on either side. Bria looked at it sceptically, peering into the darkness; the alley wasn't wide enough for both of them to walk side by side. "Are you sure... this is it?" she asked.

"I'm sure," replied. "I have taken this way many times. Here, let me lead the way." He gently pried her hand away from his arm and confidently strolled forward, entering the alley, having to turn a little bit sideways to pass because of his broad shoulders.

Bria hesitated for a moment before quickly following, trying to catch up with the older man. Since it was dark she kept stumbling after , even though he seemed to be walking just fine even with the uneven ground.

At one point he turned a corner, disappearing from her sight. " ! Wait for me!" she called, nearly falling over a broken piece of cobblestone. As she turned the corner she ran into a solid chest; she was about to apologize profusely but before she could she was wrapped in a one-armed embrace. She was utterly confused and stunned when she felt a sharp pain on the side of her neck.

This caused her to wrench out of the embrace and look up to see standing there, his head bowed to obscure his face with his hood – and a syringe in his hand. Her left hand came up to cover the side of her neck she where she had felt pain, but when she pulled her hand away there was no blood. Trying to gather her wits and demand an explanation, she suddenly felt herself becoming woozy.

Her eyelids began to droop and she staggered a bit to the side, ending up leaning against the wall. "Huhhhh?" she gasped, trying to move her arms to push herself up. None of her limbs seemed connected to her and she barely could even raise arms, let alone move her legs.

"Shhh..." whispered, coming up to her and wrapping her in his arms. "It's going to be all right."

Bria tried to struggle but she was limp as a wet cloth. Fear and confusion grabbed at her mind and soul, too many things happening at once. She whimpered, having difficulty trying to keep her eyes open, even with her vision becoming blurry.

"Now, now dear," whispered comfortingly. "No need to cry. I promise I will take care of you. You have a bigger purpose in life and I intend to fulfil it!"

Bria didn't understand what he was saying as he tilted her face up to look at him, not even realizing that she was crying until she wiped her tears away. He was smiling, a bitter smile with full teeth showing that bordered on sadistic. It was his eyes, though, that truly filled her with fear; they were shined with glee and instead of being round, the pupils were slitted vertically like those of a snake. She wanted to shout but found that her body was failing her in every way, and it was that face she last saw before the world went completely black.

"**_...with the blood of virgins leading our visions!" _**

* * *

**Welcome readers! You've made it to the end of the opening of this new story! I apologize for it being so short and for not showing our favorite characters but the story needs to be set up so I hope you enjoyed! I have been toying with this story for awhile now and finally got the courage to write it. This story is heavily based upon my idea of combining the Sherlock fandom with a manga called 'Le Chevalier D'Eon' (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE MANGA NOT WATCHING THE ANIME). But this isn't really a crossover, D'Eon has just heavily influenced the story but you won't see any characters from the manga.**

**Also, sorry if my Latin is... not well. I am still an amateur when it comes to the language to I rely on translators for a lot of help. And note, there will be graphic depictions of violence and major character death!**

**Your thoughts on the story would be greatly appreciated!**

**On that note, I would like to thank Bradlover1 on AO3 for editing this chapter (as well as the entire story if she wants lol!). She made it ten times better than it originally was, THANK YOU! :)**


	2. Announcement

**Dear Readers,**

**I have an announcement pertaining to all of my stories. As most of you have seen I have not updated any stories in quite a while this is unfortunately due to the fact that, like most writers, I have been stuck in a writing rut. Now don't get this confused with 'writer's block'- that is not what I am going through; I know what direction I want my stories to go but when I actually sit down to write it my brain just completely shuts down. I have tried to write stuff but it becomes more and more difficult each time I try with all my stories- new and current ones. This has been going on since the middle of summer that is still going on currently- going on even longer for my Soul Eater stories. I don't know when it will end but the updates will come when it is over.**

**Thank you for understanding,**

**Malakia**


End file.
